[78-L] Bob Altshuler.

[Spats]

Hi!

Bob actually GAVE me some great records...but then, he wasn't very 
interested in the operatic records which I collect!

Earl.

At 4:57 pm -0700 07/7/2009, 78-l-request at klickitat.78online.com wrote:
>The vinyl pressings to which you Steven refers are among the other 
>items I saw on some of my numerous visits to Bob Altshuler's house 
>in Huntington, NY.  I really can't recall how many I had seen or how 
>many copies of any particular item there were, but probably not more 
>than a handful of multiples of the same item.  Some of the discs 
>were purchased by Carl Hallstrom of Sweden who eventually used some 
>of them in producing his Tax label reissue series.  I think 
>Altshuler had them priced at $25 each.  His position at Columbia 
>enabled him to order such items, probably at no cost to him, so his 
>profit margin was rather comfortable.  It is from that venture that, 
>I believe, Bob expanded into buying notable jazz collections and 
>selling the records to collectors.
>
>I should remark here that Bob was a very friendly person on a social 
>level.  However, regardless of how well he knew you, when it came to 
>buying of any of the records he had available, it was strictly 
>business.  It was as though he had just met you for the first time. 
>I don't recall if I ever bought anything from him, but I had been at 
>his house when Jerry VAlburn and John R. T. Davies had made 
>purchases.  I recall one of my visits with John while he was staying 
>at Jerry's house.  The two had, earlier in the day, returned from a 
>visit to Altshuler.  John mentioned having seen a record at Bob's 
>house that he wanted but that the latter wanted something in the 
>range of $15.  John figured the value of the record at more like $5 
>to $7, but surmised that Altshuler came up with the dollar amount 
>because he [John] wanted the record.